Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphones often face a situation where, after updating the operating system or installing a new version of the MIUI shell, the gallery stops displaying photos saved on an external drive. This is not a device error, but a consequence of the strengthening of Android security policy, which restricts application access to the file system.
The essence of the problem lies in the mechanism of Scoped Storage, which was introduced by Google developers and rigidly implemented in the latest versions. MIUI. The system no longer allows applications to scan the entire drive without the explicit permission of the user, and if you insert a memory card and you can't see your pictures on it, then the Gallery or Explorer app is blocked from accessing the directory. Android/data or the root directory of the drive.
In this article, we will discuss how to get around these restrictions with regular system tools without resorting to root rights. You will learn how to properly configure access paths, use hidden system functions and understand why standard methods may not work on your device.
Reasons for blocking access to MIUI and Android
Since Android 11, Google has radically changed the way it manages files, where applications can request full permission to read and write all the storage, now use a separate storage model where each application has access to its own folders, and use a special system interface called SAF (Storage Access Framework) to access shared media files.
Xiaomi’s MIUI and HyperOS shells often add their own layers of protection that may conflict with standard rights requests. For example, an embedded antivirus or memory optimizer can automatically block the background scan of external drives to save battery life, which leads to the fact that even with formal permission, the gallery does not update thumbnails.
⚠️ Warning: Forcing full rights to be granted through hidden developer menus can cause system instability or disruptions to other multimedia applications using the same files.
If the memory card file system is formatted in NTFS or exFAT format with errors, the system can only mount it in read-only mode or not allow access to gallery applications at all. In such cases, formatting into a compatible FAT32 format is required, which, however, will delete all data.
Why is this happening right now?
Preparation of the device and memory card
Before you go to complex system resolution settings, you need to make sure that the drive is physically healthy and correctly installed. Often the problem is solved at the initial diagnostic stage, when it turns out that the memory card is not recognized by the system properly or has file errors.
Remove the memory card from your smartphone and connect it to your computer through a card reader. Check for file system errors with standard Windows or macOS. If the memory card was previously used in another Android device, it can be encrypted. In this case, the current Xiaomi smartphone will not be able to read the data without a formatting procedure that will destroy the information.
☑️ Diagnostics SD-map
After checking, insert the card back into your smartphone. Go to Settings → About Phone → Storage. Make sure the system sees the full card volume and it shows as “Connected” or “Used.” If the card status is “Not supported” or “damaged”, the software methods for setting the rights won’t help – you need to replace the drive.
Basic setting of access rights through the menu
The easiest and safest way to allow access is to use the standard application permissions management menu. In the MIUI shell, the path to these settings may vary slightly depending on the version, but the logic remains the same. You need to find the Gallery app in the installed program list.
Open Settings → Apps → All apps. Search the Gallery (or Gallery) list. Click on App Permissions. Here you will see a list of access categories. Find a file-related section that may be called Files and Media, Memory, or Storage.
Select the option “Allow management of all files” or “Allow access to all files.” If the system offers a choice between “Media files only” and “All files”, it is strongly recommended to choose the second option for the correct work with external drives.
- 📱 Go to the settings of a particular Gallery application, not the general system settings.
- 💾 Look for Files and Multimedia or Memory in the permission list.
- 🔄 Switch the switch to the Allow position or select the Always Ask option for control.
- 🔒 If the item is blocked, it is possible that the mode “Protection against theft” or guest mode is activated.
In some cases, especially on global firmware versions, the standard menu may not give full access to the root directory. SD-Then the system will redirect you to a special file manager when you first start the gallery.
Use of a System File Manager
If the standard settings don't work, you need to manually "get to know" the system with folders on the memory card, and this uses the built-in File Manager application, which is the primary scanning and indexing of media files, which then become visible in the gallery.
Run the Explorer app. At the top of the screen, switch to the memory card display (usually the SD tab). The system can request access to files on the drive. Press "Allow." If no request is made, go to any folder on the map, then go back to the root.
Now open the Gallery. If the photos don't show up, try creating a new folder on the memory card through a conductor, putting a test photo in there, and then deleting it, an action that often forces the Media Scanner process to update the thumbnail database.
⚠️ Note: Do not delete system hidden folders (starting from a dot) created by other applications on the site. SD-This can cause these programs to lose their settings or malfunction.
You can also check in Explorer if the file manager sees the content, and if Explorer sees the files and Gallery doesn't, the problem is that the application's access rights to the media base are the problem, not the physical access to the disk.
Solutions through hidden settings and SAF
For advanced users facing the limitations of Android 11+, there is a method of accessing through the document selection system interface, a method often required when a gallery app forgets its way to a folder or cannot access Android/data.
The essence of the method is to open a folder on any file manager (for example, Files by Google or ZArchiver) through any file manager. SD-If you try to access the map, the system will open the Access to the folder window. Click the menu button (three bars) in the upper left corner and select «SD-map».
Then, click the blue "Use this folder" button. Confirm the action in the pop-up window. This action forcibly gives the access token to the selected directory, which the Gallery app can use if it relies on system queries.
| Access method | Difficulty | Efficiency | Risks. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard permits | Low. | Medium | Minimum |
| MIUI conductor | Low. | Tall. | Absent. |
| SAF (System Selection) | Medium | Maximum | Average. |
| Third-party launchers | Tall. | Low. | Tall. |
It is important to understand that in new versions of HyperOS access to the folder Android/data It can be completely closed to all applications except system applications. SAF may not work without the use of special shortcuts or ADB-commands that require a connection to the PC.
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If the standard gallery stubbornly doesn’t see files, install a lightweight gallery from Google Play (like Simple Gallery).
Alternative solutions and third-party applications
When Xiaomi’s built-in tools are not flexible enough, third-party file managers come to the rescue, who are able to bypass restrictions through special system calls. Apps like MiXplorer or Solid Explorer have built-in SAF mechanisms.
Install one of these managers. When you first start, it will request access to the storage. Follow the on-screen instructions using the blue confirmation button method described above. Once you set up the rights in the third-party manager, access to the system gallery is often unlocked, as the rights are issued at the user level for a particular path.
Another solution is to use cloud sync services, such as Google Photos or Yandex Drive. SD-In this case, the smartphone gallery may not be necessary, since the viewing will be carried out through the interface of the cloud application, which has its own, broader access rights.
- 📂 Use Solid Explorer to deeply configure folder access rights.
- ☁️ Set up autoload in Google Photos to access photos without a conductor.
- 🛠 Use Files by Google to clean up the media scanner cache.
- 🚫 Avoid “accelerators” apps that can block background scans.
⚠️ Warning: Installing third-party file managers from unverified sources may lead to a leak of personal data.Use only verified apps from the official Google Play Store.
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Third-party file managers are often the only working solution for accessing system folders on Android 13 and 14, where standard MIUI Explorer may be limited.